51. Scarlett

Chapter 51

Scarlett

S hirina and Maliq brought the queens to a large room, and Scarlett turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. There were windows on every wall, and you could see in every direction. There was a large four-poster bed towards the other end of the room. Half of the sheets were thrown back as if they'd just been slept in. A book was face down and open on a page on the other side of the bed.

Scarlett's gaze landed on Talwyn to find golden light emanating from her palms while she slowly raised them, and she could feel the zing of wards going up around the room. "I suspect your twin flame shall be pounding on the door momentarily," Talwyn said harshly, walking towards what Scarlett assumed was a dressing room.

"These are your private chambers?" Scarlett asked, taking in the bookcase along the wall and the desk neatly organized near it. She walked to the window and looked out to see they were high above the ground in a tower of some sort.

"Yes," Talwyn replied, emerging from the dressing room a moment later in her usual brown pants, white tunic, and boots. There was a swirl of wind around her, and she was bedecked in her weaponry. "If you would bother to reside where you are meant to in the Black Halls, you would find similar accommodations there."

Scarlett ignored the comment as she walked to the bookcase and began running her fingers along the spines.

"Who the hell was that man?" Talwyn seethed, her voice low and dangerous.

"I don't know."

"Seemed like you two knew each other pretty fucking well," Talwyn countered.

Scarlett was about to explain she'd only ever seen him in her dreams when there was a pounding on the door. "Scarlett? Are you in there?"

The door handle rattled, and Sorin banged on the door again.

"I told you. Her wards are up. You will not get in," came Azrael's growl.

"She is fine, Prince," Talwyn called, annoyance ringing in her tone. Turning back to Scarlett, she hissed, "Who is he?"

"I don't know. I've only seen him in my dreams, and he only recently started talking to me. I—"

More banging on the door interrupted her.

"I am fine, Sorin," she called to him.

"I will not believe it until I lay eyes on you," he shot back through the door.

Oh, he was furious all right.

"I think we should focus on what he actually showed us there," Scarlett said, returning her attention to Talwyn. "That glimmer or rip or whatever it was."

"It definitely looked like a rip. Like a Traveling tear but much more powerful," Talwyn confirmed.

"What could tear a plane apart like that?" Scarlett asked as she went back to scanning the bookshelf

"I do not know," Talwyn replied grimly. "And it begs the questions of whether or not there are more of them, and how we are to close them." Scarlett was silent, listening to Talwyn ponder and muse. She was only half-listening at this point until Talwyn said, "You cannot go to the mortal lands, Scarlett. "

Scarlett's blood was instantly boiling, rage flashing in her eyes. "This has already been decided, and last I checked, you still do not give me orders," she said, her own tone venomous and low.

"We need to figure out what that rip is and how to close it," Talwyn argued, her tone just as lethal.

"Scarlett…" Sorin's tense voice came from the other side of the door. He must have felt her rush of fury.

"Maybe you can figure that out while I am gone," Scarlett snapped back to Talwyn, ignoring Sorin.

"Your place is here," Talwyn snarled. "Not traipsing around the mortal lands looking for human friends."

Flames of pure white appeared around Scarlett's wrists, and the temperature in the room plummeted. "I did not get the luxury of growing up in these halls, Talwyn," Scarlett said, her voice deathly quiet. " I grew up in the shadows and darkness with my sisters." Her shadows seeped into her flames, casting the room into a shadowy glow.

Talwyn's eyes glittered with challenge as her bracelet unfurled and winds blew papers from her desk. "No," she spat back, her tone sharp as a dagger's edge. "You got to run around the human territories without a care for the rest of the world while I was shoved onto a throne to manage a war I knew nothing about."

"Talwyn, take the wards down." This time the voice was Azrael's.

"You are blaming me for not being in a land I didn't know I was meant to be a part of? And what war? The war has been over for centuries," Scarlett cried, frost spiderwebbing up the windows. "Do you know what I endured in Baylorin?"

"No, cousin, nor do I really care," Talwyn replied with a sneer. "You apparently have mortal friends worth risking everything to go back for. I was completely alone. Your twin flame saw to that."

"Talwyn!" Azrael shouted from the other side of the door. There was a note of panic that Scarlett was surprised to hear from the Earth Prince.

"Oh yes, you were so alone here in these halls," Scarlett retorted bitterly, pulling the Spirit Sword from her back. Flames of white wreathed the blade, and Talwyn raised her whip while pulling a dagger from her side. "You were so alone with a mother and then an aunt while you grew up. With Sorin here and your own twin flame and Azrael. You were all alone, weren't you?"

"Talwyn!" Azrael and Sorin cried together from the other side of the door.

Scarlett felt the wards lower, but Talwyn didn't move a muscle, and Scarlett could appreciate the power and control despite the rage surging through her. The males burst through the door, stopping short as they took in the scene before them.

"Scarlett." Sorin's voice was low, like he was trying not to spook a skittish dog in an alley. "Scarlett, put the sword down. We will go home."

" This should be her home. The Black Halls should be her home," Talwyn cried, whirling to face Sorin. "It wasn't enough for you to take my aunt and Tarek from me and then abandon me. You had to take her from me, too? How dare you even speak his name, let alone to her ."

Sorin froze, his eyes wide, his face paling slightly.

Scarlett lowered her blade as she looked between her twin flame and her cousin. The guilt that roiled across Sorin's face was enough to crush her, but to hear Talwyn's own anguish…

"Get out," Talwyn spat, crossing the room to the door. Azrael came to her side, his face hard and unforgiving. "Both of you." She leveled her gaze at Scarlett on those last three words.

"Talwyn." Azrael's voice was grim beside her. "There is a full council room downstairs waiting for information."

Talwyn's jaw feathered as she gritted her teeth. "Fine," was all she said, striding from the room, and Azrael trailing her out. Scarlett could hear her murmuring to Azrael, but even with her new Fae hearing, she could not make out what they were saying.

Scarlett moved to follow, but Sorin stepped into her path, gripping her shoulders. "You are truly all right?" he asked, his golden eyes sweeping her body for any sign of injury.

Scarlett's face softened, and she brought her hand to his cheek. "I am fine, Sorin." She rose up to her tiptoes and brushed a kiss to his lips. He didn't say anything in response as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head, and Scarlett murmured into his shoulder, "The mother hen thing has really got to go."

She felt him huff a laugh against her hair, and he drew back, looking into her eyes. "I understand that you stepping into the role of queen will require you to do things without me by your side at times, but when I couldn't feel you down the bond… Not only are you my wife and twin flame, you are my queen. I will always worry when I cannot be with you. Always."

Scarlett, not knowing what to say, just brushed her fingers along his cheek once more and murmured, "So fussy."

Sorin flicked her nose as she took his hand tightly in hers and let him lead her from the room.

Talwyn

They were only a minute or two behind her, but Talwyn had to swallow down a snarky comment when Sorin and Scarlett entered the council room, hand in hand and eyes on each other. It had been an age since all the Inner Courts had gathered in the White Halls. Had she known that Scarlett was going to be brought to the plane as well, she would have warned Azrael. She would have anticipated the panic of both queens going missing for a period of time.

Talwyn, however, was used to Maliq showing up and taking her to unknown places. Most of the time, no one knew she was gone. Azrael was sometimes there when Maliq would show up, but she had always played it off as though it had been planned. Sorin had likely come straight here upon realizing Scarlett had again been whisked away by Shirina, thinking she commanded the animal to do as before. Sorin's panic would have alerted Azrael. And this, she thought, staring broodingly from the head of the table at all the Fae gathered in her home, is the godsdamn result.

Ashtine was seated to her left, looking at her with that peculiar expression she always had on her face. Talwyn was used to it by now, and it didn't faze her as it did others. Azrael was to her right, as always. When they had walked to the council room, he had only murmured, "You are all right?"

"Fine," she had replied curtly, and Azrael had fallen quiet. He studied her now, his earthy brown eyes seeing right through her walls, and she ground her teeth together. She felt like she was only half present while she and Scarlett told the others about the plane they were taken to and the rip in it that they saw. She waited for Scarlett to mention the man, but she never did.

Talwyn kept the same slightly annoyed look on her face that she always did. Her jade eyes glowed sharply and her lips pursed. No weakness was ever shown. Not in front of the Courts.

"And we do not know how many of these rips there are or where they go?" Neve was asking across the table.

"No," Talwyn replied, her tone clipped. Neve fell quiet, throwing a look to the rest of the Water Court.

"Can it be closed?" came Eliza's sarcastic drawl.

Talwyn gritted her teeth harder. She hated when they were there. At least Azrael's Inner Court rarely spoke a word, letting their Prince handle everything. When Briar and Sorin brought their Inner Courts, they were allowed to speak at will. It's not that she didn't value such input, but there were so many people, so many voices. "I imagine that is why Scarlett and I were taken there," Talwyn replied tightly. Gods, her temper was barely leashed at this point. She needed to get out of this room. Away from everyone. She needed to get out.

"But how?" This time it was Sawyer from Briar's right.

Talwyn felt her lips form a thin line. Everyone was looking at her.

When she had first learned of Scarlett, she had felt a deep sense of relief. She wouldn't have to bear the burden of ruling alone any longer. She had never once felt threatened by the idea of ruling together. And yet here she sat, everyone still looking to her for answers. Here she sat, still a baby in Fae years, ruling entire lands and being expected to know the secrets of the world and its gods. Here she was, shoved onto a throne she wasn't prepared for, with magic she had mastered and somehow still barely controlled at times.

That leash on her temper was so taut now, her power roiling just beneath the surface. Lightning was crackling at her fingertips under the table. She felt a vine wrap around her wrist and glanced down to see little purple flowers sprouting from it. Her eyes slid to Azrael, his eyes slightly narrowed and fixed on her. To anyone else, he looked like he always did— a scowling bastard. But to her, she saw the tensed shoulders preparing to intervene if she lost control.

"I do not know yet," Talwyn replied, the restraint sounding in her voice. "But I have ideas I will be looking into as soon as we are done here. However, I do believe our new queen likely has more insight than I do."

Fuck it. If Scarlett wasn't going to bring up their guide on that little adventure, she sure as hell would.

All eyes swung to Scarlett, who was now glaring at Talwyn from the other end of the table.

"Always so chatty, cousin," Talwyn went on. "And now you have nothing to say?"

Scarlett tilted her head to the side as if contemplating, and godsdamn Sorin stepped in. "Maybe you could explain why you think she knows more than she is letting on?"

Talwyn settled back in her chair and summoned a cup of tea, holding her cousin's stare. She could see the challenge in her eyes, daring her to speak on this further.

She'd faced far scarier things than her.

She took a sip of her tea and said, "We were not alone in the plane we visited. We had a guide. A man that your queen apparently knows very, very well. A man bonded to Altaria."

Sorin's head whipped to his queen. "Who?"

Scarlett's teeth were clenched, and Talwyn recognized that she was working to control her own temper. That her rage was leashed as tightly as Talwyn's own was. She merely sent her a sweet smile and sipped her tea once more.

Scarlett let out a deep breath. "As I have already told Talwyn, I do not know who he is."

"You certainly conversed with him as if you knew him. You recognized him as soon as he made his presence known," Talwyn retorted. If Scarlett wasn't going to tell her what she needed to know to protect her people, she'd get every godsdamn person in this room on her side.

"How many times have you seen him? Who is he?" Sorin demanded, turning back to his wife.

"I do not know who he is," Scarlett reiterated. "He's been in my dreams in the past."

"Mikale?" Sorin asked sharply.

Scarlett shook her head. "No. I mean, he's been in those dreams, too, but as an observer. He's only spoken to me a few times. I do not know who he is," she replied.

"And he is bonded to Altaria?" Briar asked curiously from Scarlett's left.

"I would assume so. They seem to have a connection similar to the one I've seen between Sorin and Amaré."

"What has he said to you?" Sorin cut in.

"Nothing of importance, or I would have told you about it," Scarlett snapped, meeting his stare.

Ashtine's lilting voice cut through the voices. "He has only appeared in your dreams before now?"

Scarlett's gaze flickered to the princess. "Yes. He was there when…when Shirina and I were bonded."

Ashtine merely propped her head on a delicate hand and studied the new Fae Queen.

"How often does he come for you?" Sorin asked, his entire body tense.

"He does not come for me, " Scarlett drawled. She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. There was a flicker of shadows as they coiled around her arms, then they were gone. "He…"

Sorin reached over to touch her hand, and she jerked it back from him. Talwyn's brows rose in surprise at the reaction. She watched as Sorin's lips thinned. "This…man is the one who took you to the rip in the plane? Told you what it was?"

"Yes." Scarlett's voice was hard and sharp.

"And you believe this…dream?"

"Clearly what happened today was not a dream, Prince."

"And you, Queen Talwyn? Do you believe what this man told you both?" Briar asked, his icy blue eyes hard as they settled on her.

"I believe there are beings in the mortal lands that we have never encountered. This plane we were on was layered over Baylorin. I do not believe these two things occurring are independent of each other," Talwyn answered. With the attention on Scarlett for those few minutes, she had been able to breathe and get her irritation under control.

"You think this rip or tear or whatever is part of how they are entering the mortal lands?" Cyrus asked slowly from beside Sorin.

"That is one possibility, yes," Talwyn said, her eyes fixed on the Fire Court Second. She could see the concern there, the one she had been voicing repeatedly these last two days. She narrowed her eyes at Cyrus and purred softly, "Say it, Fire Warrior."

Cyrus winced slightly as every set of eyes slid to him, including his prince and queen. He took a breath and leaned forward to see Scarlett around Sorin. "Until we figure out this rip, until we know how many rips there are and who this man is that keeps appearing to you, maybe it would be wise to remain here and hold off on going to the human lands. Just until that's figured out," he added hastily as flames appeared in Scarlett's eyes. It was the only reaction she made. She didn't move. She hardly seemed to be breathing.

Talwyn locked eyes with her cousin, and she couldn't help the slight smirk that spread across her lips. "You can ignore my warnings all you like, but will you not heed wise advice from your own Court?"

"I do believe at our last little meeting, your Court agreed the mortal lands needed immediate attention," Scarlett replied. Her voice was quiet, venomous, lethal .

"Then others can go," Talwyn returned, her own voice flippant and unconcerned.

"They do not know the kingdoms like I do," Scarlett retorted. "It must be me."

"You are not prepared to go. You are not prepared to face what lies in wait for you there," Talwyn seethed back. Her temper was hanging by a thread. She saw Azrael tense out of the corner of her eye. She saw Sorin do the same beside Scarlett.

"Not prepared to go?" Scarlett asked in a voice of darkness. "You do not know the half of what I am prepared for."

"Are you prepared to face unknown enemies and win?"

"Are you?" Scarlett countered.

"No. That is why I am doing the smart thing and staying here," Talwyn retorted in the same venomous voice.

"Well, then it is a good thing I have faced not one, not two, but three Maraan Lords and have lived to tell the tale. One of them was not so lucky. So I suppose I am not so concerned about the enemies since I know what they are," she purred.

Talwyn blinked at her cousin. Maraan Lords? She didn't even know what those were, but Ashtine spoke from beside her. Her face had gone visibly pale. "Where have you faced a Maraan Lord?"

"You know of them?" Scarlett asked instead, her attention shifting to Ashtine.

"Is there still one you go to face?"

"At least two, but I suspect more," Scarlett replied.

Talwyn turned her gaze to Sorin, but he looked as lost and surprised as everyone else in the room did, other than Ermir. How did Scarlett know of such things?

"I am in need of an explanation, Ashtine," Talwyn said, her voice softening as she spoke to her friend.

But Ashtine continued to ignore them all other than Scarlett. "You are certain?"

"Yes. I am learning the Avonleyan language. I am sure."

The Wind Princess's brows rose in surprise. "How?"

A wicked smile formed on Scarlett's lips. "You will find I am quite resourceful." Then her eyes slid to Talwyn. "And that I am more than prepared to face what lies in wait there."

Talwyn was done. She was done trying to win her cousin over, trying to guide her towards the best decisions. She was done holding her tongue, trying to find common ground with the female who was supposed to help fix things, not make them harder. She had not done all she had these last years to have it all end on a foolish girl's allegiance to mortal friends.

Talwyn stood, bracing her hands on the table, leaning towards Scarlett. Her icy blue eyes were still fixed on her jade ones. Azrael shot to his feet beside her, and she saw thin shields of fire and water come between her and Scarlett from Briar and Sorin as they also stood, hands in casual reach of their weapons. "If you are lost, if you are killed, in the mortal lands," Talwyn said, barely more than a whisper, "all hope is lost. This is not just about your little mortal friends, Scarlett. This is every realm, every life, contained in them. This is the entire godsdamned continent. If you are lost, we cannot find the keys. If you are killed, you doom us all, and that, cousin, will all be because of you. You decide if your mortal comrades are worth more than every other soul in the realms…then be prepared to take full responsibility for that choice."

Then she stepped through her own rip in the world. She felt Azrael grip her elbow as she left. She stepped into her bedroom, preparing to put up her wards and turned to Azrael, who still gripped her elbow, his eyes searching hers.

"Distract me or get out," she snarled under her breath.

He roughly tugged her close to him. She bared her teeth, preparing to take all her aggression and rage out in bed, but then he wrapped his arm around her waist, and she felt the familiar sensation of Traveling. She looked around and found herself in the forest. Jonaraja Forest.

"What are we doing here?" she demanded of her Second, glaring at the male as he stepped back and slowly began circling her.

Jonaraja Forest was ancient. It was said to be as old as Shira Forest itself, and it was one of the greatest kept secrets of the centuries and that secret was entrusted to the Earth Court. The trees here were towering and old, and you could feel the ancient powers emanating from them.

This was also where Azrael had trained her. He was older than she was by at least five centuries and had seen the Great War, had fought in it alongside his parents and hers. Azrael had trained her in all the ways that counted. Not just weaponry and combat. He had taught her how to properly Travel. He had taught her how to control her powers. Yes, she could use them when she came to him, but she had never been taught how to truly control them, how to use them in ways that mattered, how to shape them.

"You demanded a distraction," he snarled back.

"I meant in the bedroom, you damn idiot," she snapped back, a gust of wind blowing through the trees.

"Let it out, Talwyn," Azrael said, his tone softening a fraction. "You barely held it together back there. Let it all out."

"I can control it," she snapped back, her breaths becoming short and ragged.

"Maybe, but you do not have to here," he replied, still circling her. "This isn't your typical rage and temper. This has been repressed for so long, I do not know that you can control it."

"Enough, Az," she ground out.

"Let it out, Talwyn. Let out all the rage that has been accumulating since she arrived here."

"Stop!" Talwyn shouted, the earth shuddering beneath their feet.

"Let it out, Talwyn."

The winds were whipping around them now, the leaves on the trees straining under the gusts.

Suddenly Azrael was in her face, gripping her shoulders. "She came here, and everyone willingly bowed before her. She did not have to earn any of it. She came home, not alone, but with a twin flame and could not even see it. She came home and will not even reside where she belongs. She came home, trusting Briar more than she trusts you, her own cousin. She came home with friends she is willing to risk everything for, while you have been here, abandoned in your own realm, working tirelessly to keep the entire world safe."

"Stop!" Talwyn screamed. She reached up to push him away from her, but he only gripped her shoulders harder, his fingers digging into her flesh.

"You lost everything because of her ," he whispered directly into her ear.

And Talwyn lost it. That leash she had been holding so tightly snapped in half. The ground shook beneath them and small boulders that had littered the forest grounds exploded. Lightning flashed in the skies around them, and Talwyn sank to her knees. Her wind gusts had blown in clouds that mixed with the energy she was shaping in the skies. Thunder sounded, and it began to rain, the ground turning to mud beneath her. She sobbed into her hands as power poured from her, bursts of pure magic that would have sundered any other place but this one of magic as raw as her own.

She felt the outpouring weakening after several minutes, and she wiped her eyes, looking up to see Azrael, who had shielded himself, standing over her. She took a shuddering breath. He only reached down for her hand, helping her to her feet. The rain was soaking them both, and her hair was sticking to her face. He brushed some from her eyes, then took her face in his hands.

" You are a queen, Talwyn Semiria," he snarled softly. "You have sacrificed much for these lands. You have been forced to grow up faster than any Fae should have to. You have been betrayed and hurt by those you trusted and faced pain and loss. You have deserved none of it. Do you understand?" She felt tears slip down her cheeks again, and Azrael wiped them away with his thumbs.

"She risks it all, everything I have sacrificed for. Everything I'have fought to keep safe and protected and the revenge we seek," Talwyn whispered back to him. "The realms, the Courts, believe me to be a heartless, cruel queen. I have never cared. I have never cared what they thought as long as my people and my kingdom were safe. What if it was all for naught?"

"Then we will adjust our strategy," Azrael answered. "We will meet whatever is to come head on, and you will not face it alone. "

Silence hung in the air between them. Then Talwyn whispered, "I am scared, Azrael. I am scared I have failed. I am scared of what is to come."

"You have only failed when you give up, Talwyn. Fear is natural, but you do not yield to it," Azrael answered. He pulled her into him, and this time, he held her close to his chest. She could hear his heart beating beneath her ear, strong and steady, as he'd been for her since the day she had shown up in his Alcazar. "For the next few hours, let someone else worry about it, Talwyn. Let someone else make the hard decisions. Let someone else bear that burden," he murmured into her hair.

"It is my responsibility," she replied, not even bothering to lift her head.

"But it is a shared responsibility now," Azrael countered. "Let it be so."

"And what exactly am I supposed to do in the meantime?" she sighed, exhausted.

"I can think of a few things…"

She could hear the invitation in his voice, and she lifted her head to look into his eyes. "You have declined my request for distraction twice now."

"Then allow me to make it up to you," he answered, bringing his lips to hers.

His hands slid down her torso, clenching her ass as he hoisted her against him. Her legs came around his waist, and tongues and teeth clashed. "Not in the rain please," she murmured onto his mouth.

"Whatever you say, your Majesty," he answered, and he stepped her through the world right into his private rooms at his Alcazar. He spun, pressing her up against the wall, and she snarled at him, clawing at the various buckles securing weapons to his body. Talwyn unwound her legs, sliding them slowly down his torso and hips as his hands removed her own weapons.

She reached for his shirt, but he caught her wrists, pinning them behind her back and forcing her to arch into him. "Let go of control, Talwyn," he snarled, his canines nipping and scraping along her neck. "It is just us here. Let go."

"This is not distracting me, Azrael," she growled back, tugging her wrists, but he held firm, pressing his chest into hers. The wall was cool, and she could feel it against her hot skin through her shirt as he pushed her back against it. The contrast made her body shiver against him.

"It will be if you would stop fighting me for control," he retorted, shifting her wrists to one hand. His other hand came around and pulled the strings at the top of her tunic, letting the front gap open. He tugged it roughly to the side, his large palm sliding over the band on her breasts, eliciting a moan of need from her.

Azrael's lip curled in a smirk as he pulled his hand back, slowly dragging it possessively down her torso before coming to the buttons on her pants. "What will it be, your Majesty?" he purred, flicking open the first one. "Will you let me distract you properly?"

Talwyn glared back at him, clenching her teeth. "You better make this worth my while," she snarled at him.

He arched a brow at her. "Have I ever disappointed you?" When she just gave him an unimpressed glare, he leaned in close once more, speaking directly into her ear, his low, rough voice sending heat through her veins. "We both know I know exactly how to make this worth your while, Talwyn." He tugged on her wrists that he still gripped in his hand forcing her to arch into him even more and a frustrated growl escaped her throat. "The sounds I draw from you tell me all I need to know," he continued, his other hand flicking open the next button on her pants.

She snarled at him once more, but her body relaxed into him, letting go of all the tension coiling in her limbs. He chuckled darkly as he released the final button of her pants before scooping her up and tossing her roughly onto the center of his bed.

"Shirt off," he ordered, pulling his own over his head. Talwyn quickly shucked off her tunic, taking in the corded muscles of Azrael's chest and arms. "Keep going," he said with a nod at the band around her breasts, his gaze roving over her .

Talwyn grumbled as she unwound the band, her breasts immediately tightening as the cool air brushed over them, the tips hardening.

Azrael stalked toward her, his eyes dark with predatory intent. He slowly crawled onto the bed, coming over top of her and forcing her down onto her back. "Hands up," he commanded, his voice dark and full of a promise that he would indeed make this worth her while.

Despite her best attempts to maintain some form of control, her breathing was shallow as she slowly raised her hands above her head. She felt his magic wrapping around her, vines coiling around her wrists and yanking them higher, securing them in place. She snarled softly at him, baring her teeth. "Do not get used to this, Luan," she growled.

"Mhmm," he hummed darkly. "I think you say the same thing every time."

She opened her mouth to snark a reply, but his fingertips were skating up her sides, over her ribs, and instead a gasp escaped her. His palms skimmed back down the path his fingers had just taken, his callouses rough against her skin, and when they reached the band of her pants he sat back, pulling them down her legs along with her undergarments. He looked down at her, his eyes glazed and pupils dilated.

"I am not here to be your distraction," she snarled at him, and he dragged his eyes to hers, a wicked smile pulling at his lips.

"Of course not, your Majesty," he mocked, his hands gripping her knees and pulling them roughly apart. He bent down, kissing and biting up the inside of her thighs as he made his way higher. And her thoughts scattered as the only thing she could focus on was his lips, his tongue, getting closer to that bundle of nerves. And he was taking his sweet fucking time getting there. By the time he made it to her center, she was panting and writhing beneath him, damn near close to begging him.

"You seem very distracted now," he taunted, his breath brushing over her aching core .

"Azrael," she ground out, arching her hips off the bed, trying to get closer to his mouth.

"Stop moving," he purred, and she felt vines snake around her middle, pulling her down into the bed. His fingers squeezed her inner thighs once more as he pushed her legs wider, before he brought his mouth down onto her, and she moaned in pleasure when he finally, finally , raked his tongue over those nerves. He sucked and nipped, his hands holding her open for him.

When he slipped his tongue inside her, one hand slid up, his thumb continuing to move in delicious circles. She jerked against the restraints at her wrists, tried to buck her hips, but the vines just tightened. She wouldn't have been able to focus enough to use her own magic to break the binds if she had wanted to. Every nerve was firing in her body as he brought her closer and closer to the edge. She was panting when two fingers replaced his tongue, and he looked up at her, the look in his eyes saying he knew exactly how close she was. With a wicked grin against her flesh, his tongue found that bundle of nerves one more time, and she shattered around his fingers, crying out his name and arching off the bed.

Before she had even come down from her high, the vines around her middle were gone, and he was flipping her onto her stomach. She snarled as her wrists and arms twisted in their holds to accommodate the new position.

"Ass up, my queen," he crooned, his hands grasping her hips and hoisting her up onto her knees, not giving her time to carry out the command on her own. His palm dragged down her spine, and she felt him press against her from behind. When he had removed his own pants, she had no idea. He leaned forward once more, reaching around her to grip her breasts in his palms , and she moaned, pressing her face into the crook of her arm and her ass back into him.

One hand toyed with her nipple, rolling it between his fingers and tugging, as his other drifted south, his long digits once again finding that bundle of nerves at her center. She felt her magic rolling off of her, and she tried to find some semblance of control over it. Some way to shape it so she could torture Azrael as much as he was torturing her, but he was right. He knew exactly how to play her body to make her forget her past, her present, her heartache, her responsibilities. The only things that could hold her attention right now were his hands, his mouth, and his hardness pressing against her.

And while she would never admit it out loud to him, she knew that he understood how much she needed this. She needed someone else to take control, to make the decisions. When it was just her and the Earth Prince, no one was looking at her to lead an entire race of people, entire bloodlines. No one was expecting her to have all the answers or know the secrets of the gods and Fates. When he convinced her to give up control, even just for a few hours, she relished the freedom. She craved it, and Azrael gave her the only safe place she had to enjoy such a luxury that she was rarely afforded.

So she gave in to him when he gripped her hips once more and slammed into her in one hard movement. She let herself get lost in the pleasure he was giving her with each thrust he made, each cry he wrung from her lips. And when she came a second time, and he found his own release a few moments later, she let him gently roll her onto her back, the vines around her wrists vanishing. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, his tongue gently caressing hers, as his hand cupped the nape of her neck.

"Sleep, Talwyn," he ordered softly when he pulled back from her. He reached down and pulled the blankets up over them, draping his arm around her waist and resting his hand on her hip as she settled back against him. Sated and thoroughly distracted, she was asleep in minutes.